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A Midwestern American woman says that her local hospital tried to give her the wrong baby after two different births — so by the time she welcomed the third one, she refused to leave his side.
Becky Martin is now a mother of eight children, both biological and adopted, but hospital mistakes could have made her family quite different had she not been paying attention.
‘I actually have had my babies switched by the hospital. Not once, but twice,’ she said in a viral TikTok video. ‘It was immediately noticed and corrected, but still.’
Uh-oh! A Midwestern American woman says that her local hospital tried to give her the wrong baby after two different births
Yikes! Becky Martin said babies that weren’t hers were presented to her after her first son and first daughter were born
‘So with our third, we did not let that baby leave,’ she said
When Becky gave son to her first child, a baby boy named Blake, as a college freshman in 1999, she says the hospital tried to give her the wrong baby boy.
‘With my first, they wheeled in a baby boy and they were like, “We fed your baby for you,” and I was like, “I’m breastfeeding!” And they were like, “Oh, sorry, wrong baby!”‘ she said.
Shockingly, something similar happened about eight years later when she welcomed a daughter named Ava.
‘With my second, they wheeled in a baby girl, and they were like, “Here’s your daughter.” And we said, “She’s already in the room with us!”‘ she said.
After two such mishaps, Becky and her husband Obie weren’t about to take any chances when they welcomed Parker four years later.
‘So with our third, we did not let that baby leave,’ she said.
Staying put: Hospital staff seemed to think Becky was being unreasonable, and she said multiple people tried to convince her to let them take Parker out of the room
Becky Martin is now a mother of eight children, both biological and adopted
Hospital staff seemed to think Becky was being unreasonable, and she said multiple people tried to convince her to let them take Parker out of the room.
‘Of course, they fought us on it. The charge nurse came in and said, “We have to take that baby out to do testing,”‘ she recalled.
‘And I said, “Well, you can either do it in my room, or I’ll accompany you to the lab, or we’ll do it at his first doctor’s appointment,”‘ she went on.
‘So she tattled to the OBGYN, who came in and made fun of me and said, “That’s right, Becky, we’re all trying to steal your baby.” And I was like, “Hey! Once is an accident. Twice is a pattern!”‘ she said.
‘So if you ever wonder what pushes a woman to become an advocate of home birth, that’s one of many reasons,’ she concluded.
In a follow-up video, Becky clarified that all of this had happened in the same US hospital — but based on comments that she read, she found that her experience ‘was not an anomaly,’ despite safety precautions in place.
Other stories: Becky said that based on comments that she read, she found that her experience ‘was not an anomaly,’ despite safety precautions in place
One commenter wrote: ‘They switched my baby, they gave me the wrong baby, and when I said this isn’t my baby, they asked me how I know!?!?
‘This literally just happened with my sister and her son, when he was taken for shots, THEY BROUGH THE WRONG BABY BACK,’ wrote another.
‘My grandma brought the wrong baby home,’ wrote one more. ‘She kept trying to tell my grandfather, “This is not Patty.” He didn’t listen. They got a phone call shortly after they got home to bring that baby back!’
Becky said the experience was a lesson for her.
‘Unfortunately, it was one of many experiences that made me realize I had to advocate for myself,’ she continued. ‘Ultimately, I hope we all have respectful providers who believe in true informed consent and an empowering birth, whether that’s at home, a hospital, or a birthing center,’ she said.
Source: DUK News
